Sensex gains nearly 100 points ahead of July F&O expiry

Markets staged a recovery in late trades to end higher, ahead of the expiry of July derivative contracts, as gains in private banking majors helped offset losses in capital goods major L&T.

The S&P BSE Sensex gained nearly 0.4% or 96 points at 26087 level while the CNX Nifty edged higher by 42 points or 0.5% at 7,791.40 level.

Moreover, the broader markets ended mixed as the BSE Mid-cap index performed in line with the benchmark indices up nearly 0.4% while the Small-cap index ended flat with a negative bias.

The overall market breadth on the BSE was marginally weak as 1481 shares declined while 1401 advanced.

Global Markets

Asian markets ended mixed ahead of key US economic data and the two-day US FOMC meet which ends today.

Japanese shares gained for the fourth straight session to end with marginal gains as better-than-expected corporate earnings helped offset sluggish industrial data.

The benchmark Nikkei ended up 0.18% at 15,646.23. The Shanghai Composite was marginally down 0.1% while Hang Seng was up 0.4%.

European shares were trading weak in early deals as the US and the European Union imposed fresh sanctions against Russia. The CAC, DAX and FTSE were down 0.05-0.3% each.

Indian Rupee

The Indian rupee was trading marginally higher at 60.11 compared to the previous close of Rs 60.12 tracking gains in the domestic stock markets.

However, upside gains were capped because of dollar month-end dollar demand from crude oil importers.

Sectors and Stocks

BSE Heathcare, Consumer durables and Bankex indices surged over 1% followed by and Realty, Power, Auto, Metal and Oil & Gas indices, all up between 0.3- 1% each.

BSE Capital Goods index slumped nearly 5% followed by IT which ended nearly 0.5% lower.

Moreover, NSE CNX Pharma index hit a new high during intraday after most companies comprising the index reporting a strong earnings growth for the quarter ended June 30, 2014 (Q1).

L&T tanked over 7% after reporting the consolidated net profit of Rs 967 crore for Q1, mainly on account of one-time gain of Rs 249 crore on disinvestments and stake sale in one of its project.

Sesa Sterlite gained nearly 1% after reporting lower-than-expected consolidated net profit of Rs 375 crore for Q1, as the depreciation accounting charges of its oil and gas subsidiary Cairn India ate into its bottom line.

The company's consolidated net sales, on the other hand, were a tad down from the estimates at Rs 17,186 crore in the quarter under review.

Among the auto pack, Tata Motors dipped nearly 1.5%, extending its past two-days fall, on reports that Jaguar Land Rover has reduced its prices on three of its high end models in response to an pricing and anti-monopoly investigation in China.

While Hero Motocorp, Maruti Suzuki and M&M gained between 1.5-2.5% each.

Meanwhile, Bharti Airtel surged over 5% after reporting 61% year-on-year jump in consolidated net profit at Rs 1,108 crore for Q1, backed by a 74% rise in mobile data revenue.

The country’s largest cell phone operator had profit of Rs 689 crore in the corresponding quarter last year.

ITC edged over 0.5% higher after its cigarette business’ revenues grew 18.8% year-on-year (yoy) to Rs 4,201 crore and Ebit (earnings before interest and tax) margin up 142 basis points to 64.8% for Q1.

The country’s largest cigarette maker reported a better-than-expected 25% yoy rise in quarterly sales at Rs 9,160 crore during the quarter under review against Rs 7,339 crore in June 2013.

The sales growth during the quarter was highest since March 2010 quarter.

Pharma company Dr Reddy's Lab gained over 2% after the company reported Q1 net profit of Rs 550 crore as compared to Rs 361 crore in the year-ago quarter, an uptick of 52%.

Also, Lupin surged over 5% after reporting a better-than-expected 56% year-on-year (y-o-y) jump in net profit at Rs 625 crore for the Q1, on back of strong growth in the US and in India.

The pharmaceutical company had profit of Rs 401 crore in the same quarter last fiscal.

Among the financial stocks, ICICI Bank, Axis Bank and HDFC twins gained between 1-3% each while SBI shed nearly 1%.

Among other shares, SpiceJet tanked over 16% on reports that the company owes about Rs 200 crore to the Airports Authority of India and various tax authorities as adverse operating environment has impacted its performance.

Indoco Remedies soared nearly 14% after reporting an over two-fold jump in net profit at Rs 20 crore for the first quarter ended June 2014 (Q1), on back of strong operational performance.

The pharmaceuticals company had profit of Rs 9 crore in the same quarter last fiscal.